1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a door handle for a refrigerator which a user grips to apply a force for opening and closing a refrigerator door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a door mounted with a door handle according to a prior art.
As shown in the figure, a door handle 20 is provided on a portion of a front surface of a door 10 for selectively opening and closing a storage space of a refrigerator. The door handle 20 is a part which a user grips and pulls or pushes the door handle 20 to open and close the door 10. The door handle 20 comprises a pair of bar holders 21, a handle bar 27, and a plurality of screws Sa and Sb used for fastening the bar holders 21 and the handle bar 27 to the door 10 and the bar holders 21, respectively.
Each of the bar holders 21 supports the handle bar 27 in a state where the bar holders 21 are fixed to a side of the door 10. The bar holder 21 is composed of a fixing portion 22 and a seating portion 24. The fixing portion 22 is brought into close contact with the side of the door 10 and formed with a fastening hole 22a through which the screw Sa is fastened to the side of the door 10.
The seating portion 24 is fastened to an upper or lower end of the handle bar 27. An upward or downward extending fastening piece 25 is provided at a distal end of the seating portion 24 such that it can be inserted into the handle bar 27. The fastening piece 25 is formed with a fastening hole 25a to which the screw Sb penetrating a side surface of the door handle 20 is fastened.
Furthermore, the handle bar 27 extends in a vertical direction and is formed into a hollow cylinder of which upper and lower ends are opened. In a state where the upper and lower ends of the handle bar 27 are seated in the seating portions 24, the screws Sb penetrating the handle bar 27 are fastened to the fastening holes 25a of the fastening pieces 25, so that the handle bar 27 is fixed to the bar holders 21. The screws Sb fastened to the fastening holes 25a of the fastening pieces 25 penetrate the portions of the handle bar 27 adjacent to a front surface of the door 10, i.e., the portions which are not visible from the front of the door 10.
In addition, in a state where the screws Sa penetrating the fastening holes 22a of the fixing portions 22 are fastened to the side of the door 10, covering caps (not shown) are installed to prevent the screws Sa from being exposed to the outside. The shelter caps are preferably formed of the same material as the fixing portions 22.
However, the door handle for a refrigerator according to the prior art has the following problems.
As described above, four screws, including two screws Sa for fixing the bar holders 21 to the door 10 and two screws Sb for fixing the handle bar 27 to the bar holders 21, are needed in the prior art. In addition, the additional covering caps for preventing the screws Sa from being exposed to the outside should be provided. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the costs of the door handle are increased due to the increase in the number of parts of the door handle.
Further, since the processes of fastening the screws Sb to fix the handle bar 27 to the bar holders 21 and installing the covering caps are required, the man-hour needed for the manufacture of the door handle is increased, and thus, the production costs are also increased.
Furthermore, since the handle bar 27 is fixed to the bar holders 21 by means of the screws Sb, the relative position of the handle bar 27 with respect to the bar holders 21 cannot be adjusted when the bar holders 21 are fixed to the side of the door 10. Therefore, when an error occurs in the size of the bar holders 21 or handle bar 27, it cannot be corrected.